His testimony failed to convict his former co-workers, but Gary Rickenbach is still hoping to avoid prison time for his admitted role in a fraudulent loan made by One Bank & Trust when he was its senior executive vice president.

When the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Little Rock is involved, the presumption of a defendant’s innocence must be more than theoretic, and confidence that the power of the government is being used fairly and wisely must be tempered.”

"I think when you steal $1.5 million, you deserve prison," Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller of Little Rock told Alberto Solaroli, the Canadian citizen who pleaded guilty to laundering proceeds from a 2007 bank loan.

One Bank & Trust’s foolhardy loan of $1.5 million to a penny-stock operator resulted in a federal criminal indictment of former EVP Gary Rickenbach. But a second indictment brings new revelations about the management mess there under the late Layton “Scooter” Stuart.

A conspiracy charge seems to be related to a $1.5 million loan that has already resulted in bank fraud charges against the Florida borrower, Alberto Solaroli; other charges allege deliberate fraud against the federal TARP program.